The Garden of Eaden: HOW TO GROW A LEMON TREE FROM SEED

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Growing a lemon trees from seed is surprisingly straight forward, and something that anyone can do if they have a warm, sunny windowsill. Getting the seed is probably the hardest part; you can either buy online through a specialist supplier or – if you only want a few – collect your own from shop bought fruit.

Cut open the fruit and once you have exposed the seed, remove the seed and wash off any fruit residue. You should always clean seed collected from within fruiting bodies as they contain chemicals which actively prevent seed germination.

Place the ‘clean’ seed into a glass of water and discard any that immediately float to the surface as these will not be viable – be aware that smaller seed may rise as air bubbles form on the surface of the seed coat. If you have a variety of seed sizes you may also wish to discard any that look undersized as these are unlikely to have a large enough store of energy required for successful germination. Once you have selected your seed it can be dried off and stored in an envelope until required.

Lemon seed – like all citrus – have a natural dormancy period and so will require a period of cold temperature in order to initiate germination. Luckily, citrus fruits are usually pre-chilled as they are transported using a 'cool chain' system. If not, this can be overcome by placing the seed into the vegetable compartment of any household fridge and left for a few weeks. First, secure the seed into a paper towel by folding the towel it back on itself a couple of times, then place into a plastic bag or sterile food container before leaving it in the fridge.

After approximately three weeks - although they can be left in there for a month or so should they need to be – they can be removed from the fridge ready for potting on. Soak the seeds for a couple of hours or so before planting them into 2-3 inch pots. Only sow 1 seed per pot using a good quality, free draining soil based compost such as John Innes seed or No1, then water in.

If you can, place the pots into a heated propagator at a temperature of 16 degrees Celsius, otherwise transfer them to a warm, bright position such as a kitchen windowsill. Water periodically so that the compost doesn't dry out, but make sure that the compost is never left waterlogged either.

Germination should occur any time from 4 – 6 weeks, but don’t worry if it takes a little longer as lemon seeds have been known to take several months before they show.

The newly emerged seedlings can be left in their pots for a further 3 – 6 months depending on how they develop but once they get to about 4 or 5 inches they can be potted on to the next size pot using a John Innes ericaceous mix or No2 potting compost. So long as there are no frosts predicted the young lemon plants can be put out side to harden off over the next two to three weeks.

7 comments:

RBerenguel said...: Hi, I'm Ruben from www.mostlymaths.net. Your picture of a lemon seedling is from my blog, I hope you already know it: you can find it in my Picasa album: http://picasaweb.google.es/RBerenguel/MostlyMaths#5345774779234088690 (and my post on lemon seed germination was posted on June, 2009). It would not hurt asking before, I would have given you permission if you had posted a link to the original post.

Ruben; 16 July 2010 11:32
June said...: I have read that you MUST plant the lemon seed right away as it does not want to dry out. Your information is quite contrary to what others are saying.; 24 July 2010 12:59
kimberly said...: I Love the recipe that contain lemon juice, the taste is really wonderful and delicious. this is my favorite fruit and i enjoy preparing recipes. My boyfriend always enjoy all my recipe. He is really happy.
Actually I was looking for information how to buy viagra by internet and I saw this blog, so I prefered to read about it.; 2 September 2010 22:57
Anonymous said...: Your information is incorrect. Lemon seeds do NOT need a period of dormancy before planting.; 5 July 2011 20:10
AnneS said...: I have 2 blood-orange trees grown from seeds poked into a pot a ocuple of years ago, They are now 29-30 inches tall. I am sure they need a new pot (or to be separated into 2 pots) but I need to know what kind of soil & pot to buy. Somewhere I read "ericacaeous soil"-- I live just west of Philadelphia, PA, so cannot leave them outafter mid-fall. HOw tall might they get?; 30 April 2012 08:28
Humera Hussain said...: Get a life Reuben !! Jeez crying over one picture; 8 February 2013 18:05
MCard said...: Humera... Something "owned" by somebody is exactly that! They own it... ridiculing Reuben for protecting his image (the picture not his self!) is just wrong.; 15 May 2013 20:47

The Garden of Eaden

HOW TO GROW A LEMON TREE FROM SEED

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